TikTok, the video-sharing app that has found itself at the center of a China-U.S. trade dispute, will spend $500 million (420 million euros) to build its first Europe data center in Ireland, the company said.

The new data center is expected to be fully operational by early 2022 and promises to provide hundreds of new jobs, enhance the protection of TikTok user information and reduce loading times for its customers in Europe.

European user data will be stored at the new data hub once it goes online, the company said. Until now all data were stored in the U.S. with backups in Singapore.

The group set up its Europe, Middle East and Africa Trust and Safety facility in Dublin earlier this year and said the new spending signaled the company's long-term commitment to Ireland.

The China-owned video app, facing the threat of a U.S. ban, will extend its presence in Ireland where the company already has a center dealing with domestic and regional regulatory issues.

Parent company ByteDance Ltd., the most valuable startup in the world, has been working to distance its local China business from TikTok to appease international regulators.

TikTok said the decision to launch a Europe data hub was something it had been considering for a long time. It is a significant investment and a symbol of the company's long-term commitment to the region, it said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said recently TikTok had connections with the China government and posed a risk to national security. The president stopped short of approving an executive order that would bar the app in the U.S.

The move to expand its operations within Europe borders is part of TikTok's worldwide campaign to prove itself a responsible internet company and a trustworthy service provider. The China technology group is continuing to improve data protection and privacy teams, the company said.

TikTok continues to bolster its presence in Europe and elsewhere around the world. By May of this year the app had been downloaded more than 2 billion times.